Tyson Brown charged with another offence while waiting for murder trial

Two-year-old Arapera Fia died on October 31 last year. A Tauranga man has been charged with her murder. Photo / Supplied

A man set to face trial for the murder of a toddler was allegedly caught breaching his bail by driving drunk over the weekend.

Despite the allegations, the High Court has granted Tyson Brown bail again.

The 21-year-old was charged with the murder of Auckland 2-year-old Arapera Fia last year, after the toddler was found critically injured at a South Auckland address on October 31.

The little girl died later the same day at Starship Hospital.

Appearing in court last year, Brown was granted bail to a Tauranga address under strict conditions which included a curfew and an order not to consume alcohol.

But Brown allegedly failed to comply with the conditions, being stopped by police around 4.30am on Saturday in Tauranga.

Police claim Brown blew a breath alcohol reading over the legal limit.

Brown appeared at the Tauranga District Court on Monday morning on a charge of driving with excess breath alcohol. No pleas were entered and the charge was set down for another hearing later in May.

But as he had allegedly also breached his bail conditions related to the existing murder charge, a second hearing was required at the High Court to determine if bail was to continue.

The hearing was held in the High Court at Auckland in front of Justice Rebecca Edwards on Monday afternoon, with Brown attending via video link from the Tauranga Courthouse.

Brown’s lawyer, Ben Smith, accepted the breach occurred.

Smith advocated for bail to continue, which was not opposed by the Crown.

Further details of the discussions surrounding the man’s bail cannot be reported, due to blanket publication restrictions under the Bail Act.

The judge determined that the man should be granted bail again, under the same conditions as the previous order.

Those include a curfew requiring the man to be at home overnight, and a ban on consuming alcohol.